Going to Qatar 2022: tickets, accommodations, etc. (non-politics)

I'm just back from the FIFA Arab Cup. Here is my take (long I appreciate) on next year.

I saw full games in all 6 stadiums and 2 other partial games as well as visiting Khalifa (complete but not in use for the Arab Cup). I passed Lusail on the motorway.

It includes

Accommodation
Tickets
Transport
Alcohol
Multiple Games per day (eg 3 and 4 as 2 is no problem)

 

Thanks for this video Gary.
I will also give my feedback this weekend. Ill be watching all 4 QF, so 2 games / day with 2 hours difference between the games (hope no extra time).
It is just annoying we don't know much about accomodation. Ill probably go for the know out games this time, where i guarantee a decent accomodation, even if i have always prefered group games

 

This looks remarkably like it's going to be the official booking site:
https://book-ft.match-ag.com/book/en/
"Test Hotel 2" seems good value at 19 dollars a night.

 

It is really well done and will make it easy for a lot of people! And prices are ok. But we dont have yet pictures of apartments / rooms.
One thing also, they are not requiring a Fan ID or ticket number while booking..i was reading they might require a ticket nbr to avoid pple coming without tickets for group games where accomodation could be tight.

 

When do you think this will be available? Is this a separate package that you can get just the hotel accommodation? If this is the case and these are the prices my overall travel budget will be good.

 

This is a test version of what the accommodation website at https://book.qatar2022.qa/ will look like when it's open - register there for updates.

But "Test Hotel 2" obviously doesn't actually exist so any details about it (such as price) are totally fictional.

 

So just came back from the Arab cup and i managed to watch 2 quarter finals / day with 2 hours difference (4 games in 2 days) but i skipped the extra time for the 1st game
Feedback:

- You cannot do 2 consecutive games in group games with 1 hour difference unless u accept to miss at least 20 mn from the start of the 2nd Game

- You can do 2 consecutive games with 2 hours difference (like in the knock out games or QF) if no extra time, except when its involving al thumama stadium or albayt as it will be challenging..any combination of the rest of the 6 stadiums could be ok even with extra time (you miss first 5 minutes of the next game and you have to walk fast, so no kids / wife..).

- 5 out of the 8 stadiums are connected by metro directly ( u still have to walk 15-20 mn to reach ur seat)

- Dont under estimate the distances between the stadiums..there is at least 75 minutes to reach another game. Lrave ur hotel 2h30 mn before the game.

- The access to stadiums which are not connected with direct metro lines (thumama, bayt and janoub) was a bit messy with the shuttle buses despite all the organisation. The legacy are using the arab cup as a test and will definitly improve the shuttle bus system and they are aware of it.

- As Gary said, there is a lot of walk..bring ur most confortable shoes.

- The stadiums are amazing ! Very noisy inside. Yesterday game Morroco x algeria was a hell. A real world cup atmosphere. I have never watched morroco before but was impressive and noisy. Like argentina atmosphere.
On my bucket list: watching argentina, morroco, iran, chile or peru if they qualify

 

And i had the chance to meet Glenn from this forum, our expert in qatar

 

Cheers Gary Very insightful

 

Damn. Im really hoping we have those prices, i was expecting to expend at least 40-50 usd per night. Lets cross our fingers

 

Planning to go to my first World Cup and going to book my plane tickets this week from the UK. Do people normally apply for tickets when they are first released before the draw or wait until the later release. Going for 10 days and hoping to watch 1 game a day.

 

I'd advise reading back on previous threads for previous tournaments.

In general first phase of ticket sales is buying blind eg

B1 v B3 26th November Education City
C2 v C4 27th November 974 (I'm making these up btw).

Then after the draw you know who you will see.

So if going as a neutral this is a good way to grab tickets. Obviously if supporting a team this is a bad way as then best to wait for your country's fixtures.

The first phase of ticket sales is next month when you buy blind. Possibly also the chance to do Follow My Team.

 

I'm actually thinking of just doing this... trying to buy one ticket for each stadium and whoever it is I see, so be it... might make the draw and scheduling kinda interesting too....

 

First of all, thank you very much for you video, super interesting !
I didn't have to watch it all (I watched more the last 30min)

1 hours 13 min you talk a bit about tickets,

how did it work?
They check your Fan ID first and then your tickets?

Do they check the name? As you know it is always nice to have to possibly to swap between fans.

 

Thaks for your nice comments.

So as per Russia the name on your ticket did not need to match the name on the Fan ID.

You were not permitted to buy games an hour apart so if I bought the 1pm and 7pm games I was not allowed to buy the 4pm game that day. Of course I could buy 2 for each game and my friend could buy 2 for the 4pm game.

One thing I couldn't do was transfer an electronic ticket if it was the only one I had for a game. I am pretty sure this was not allowed. Whereas I did organise a group to attend Egypt v Lebanon and when I bought 6 tickets on my account I could easily transfer 5 of them. UEFA did allow you to transfer a single ticket for Euro2020 but it appears the FIFA app does not allow this.

 

When I've been to tournaments it's been as a neutral, happy to see any teams. Absolutely it makes the draw more interesting if you've already got match tickets lined up.

But the tickets I would have applied for would have been based on location (and dates of course), to fit in with some sort of travel plan. When all the games are in the same place, that's pretty much irrelevant this time. Visiting all the stadiums seems as good a plan as any.

 

Yeah for Russia I was looking for certain cities I hadn't been to before, Kaliningrad, Kazan, Volgograd, etc. Honestly for me the earlier rounds are for seeing the teams that you probably won't see later in the tourney. I want ti see Mexico v Senegal or Sweden v Japan, etc those sort of winner takes all games. I think it's much more interesting that a Brazil v New Zealand or Germany v Panama sort if game. Switzerland v Serbia was a cracker last time around and was great to attend.

 

Folks when you think we are going to be able to book the acomodattion through fifa new page?

 

I don't know.

My guess is when you have secured tickets. Currently if you buy the expensive hospitality tickets you can book a hotel. I assume something similiar will happen when you get tickets in the draw. They are also making provisions for large groups of fans staying together eg Camp Sweden (if they qualify).

There is also an incredible amount of building work going on in Doha at the moment. So a lot of the accommodation is not built yet.

The government and the organising committee want to showcase the country rather than rip fans off. However decent accommodation is still my biggest concern. I haven't slept in a tent since Italia90 and have no desire to do so next year. I also have no interest in sleping on a cruise ship.

 

Flight booked to Doha now. Arriving on the 20th. Egyptian Airlines from Heathrow via Cairo. Qatar Airlines are very expensive for the tournament.

 

Depends how important it is to you to see a certain team or certain teams. For me, I think that for a 32-team World Cup the odds of randomly getting a pretty interesting match (from a neutral POV) are pretty high so I always get my tickets before the draw. And it is of course easier to be successful with your applications the earlier you attempt to buy.

Once the WC expands to 48 I will probably change my strategy in this regard.

 

Ridicuous!!!! Nothing direct back to Dublin after the Rof16 and €1,616 for a round trip earier. These are set across the board for every flight as well so not down to demand. Lufthansa is less than €600 return from Dublin via Frankfurt.

I would prefer to fly direct but not at those prices.

This is almost as daft as South African Airways in 2010 putting a large premium on their London flights presumably thinking fans would fly on the national carrier rather than such small airlines as British Airways and Virgin.

I plan on holding off until Feb/Mar. Aer Lingus target the Scottish and North of England market for their transatlantic routes. If Qatar Airways are smart they could route Scottish fans via Dublin if they win the playoff. They could try it for Wales too but the Dublin connections are not as good.

 

Wait a bit. Dubai doha was 1000 usd 1 month ago for the world cup. Now its 315 usd. Probably ure booking way in advance and some airlines pricing changes with time..wait to jan / Feb 2022 when all airlines settled their strategies for the year

 

I do plan to wait but it goes right up just as the tournament starts. I will probably book in early March.

 

You think the accommodations will also be available if I purchase a single game ticket from the hospitality package?

I'm currently looking at flights and there $1500 from LAX to Doha (one way )for the beginning of the tournament. I was planning to also go to the F1 final race in Abu Dabi which is on the 19th. I see that from LAX to Abu Dabi (one way) is $584. I might go this route because it would be awesome to also check out an F1 race (never been to one). No matter how I see this the trip is going to be expensive so might as well make the best out of it.